From the moment you enter the looming portals of the great chateaux, your imagination takes over. Chambord, the mightiest of them all, was built as a hunting castle in the 16th century, by François I. You can join a horsedrawn carriage through the woods and muse on the hunter kings who enjoyed the chase on the very ground on which you ride, and marvel at the ingenuity of the lusty King François, who had a double twisted staircase built into his chateau solely to avoid awkward encounters -- between his wife and numerous mistresses -- on the way to bed.

As most of the castles are within a baguette's throw of one other, we chose to stay in Tours and make daily mini road trips into the countryside. Tours is the great food and wine centre of the Loire, with a busy local market (Les Halles), countless boulangeries, patisseries and cafés, where you can buy terrines, local cheese and scented stone fruits for impromptu summer picnics. A walk through the cobbled streets lined with ancient wooden houses is obligatory, but don't linger too long -- the countryside awaits.

Next stop, Chamerolles, and its famous Perfume Museum. Housed in a dark stone building, the museum resembles an elderly alchemist's workroom; legions of bottles line up alongside mysterious scented oils and blocks of amber and frankincense, all eventually to be melded into heady perfumes. Then it's off to Cheverny, one of the rare Loire chateaux still in private hands. Like all French countryside aristocrats, the family are mad-keen hunters, so make sure you visit the kennels to see the hounds who wear dribbly, daft expressions. You'll also see the long trophy hail, lined wltn stag neacis, some or tnem hanging very low (mind that you don't tangle with an antler). It's a pretty chateau with a warmth generated by hundreds of years of family living, and is definitely worth the journey, or 'vaut Ic voyage', as they say in the splendid Michelin guides.

While the chateaux are the reason most tourists choose to visit the Loire Valley, there are many other attractions. In summer the fields are mesmerising: orderly meadows of yellow rape peppered with dazzling red poppies; vast stretches of sunflowers; regimented rows of vegetables planted in tiny gardens; and flowering fruit trees. In winter, the valley takes on a different guise: moody and grey and mysterious while the river sends up ghostly drifts of mist. The chateaux are wall-to-wall people in summer, yet virtually deserted in winter. Each season has its own seductions, but year-round, the Loire Valley is one of the most rewarding of all great travel adventures.